Serbian Animals Voice (SAV)

Firstly; you will see that from today, our global visitor map – the ‘Clustrmap’; has now cleared and started afresh.

This is an annual activity which allows all the information from the past year to be archived.

You can see the new, clean Clustrmap on the left side of the ‘Home’ page of the site; or you can also see it by clicking on the following link – http://www4.clustrmaps.com/counter/maps.php?user=9b44b4e0

As we get more visitors to the site, the locations and sizes of the red dots will grow once again.

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March news from Keith Taylor – SE England Member For the European Parliament (MEP).

Dover Live Exports Inquiry

Keith has labelled the exporting of live farm animals both “cruel” and “needless”, in evidence submitted to Dover Council’s inquiry into the trade. The one year inquiry, which concluded this month, recommended that the council urge for laws to be changed so that ports can refuse the trade and that the RSPCA should be present during all shipments, to ensure EU laws are fully enforced.

Keith is opposed to live exports and welcomes further recognition that farm animals are not ‘goods’ but sentient beings.

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News from SAV –

From the above – “laws to be changed” – mean the UK 1847 Act.

So what is the ‘1847 Act’ that could possibly change / stop live exports from the UK ?

As you can see from the ‘About Us’ section of this site – https://serbiananimalsvoice.com/about-us/  – SAV founder Mark has had some 25 (or more) years experience with many aspects of the live animal transport trade in Europe.  Thus, we feel that we have some experience when we say that the UK could enforce legislation to make the live export of live farm animals to mainland Europe much harder.  This could be undertaken by amending the UK legislation of the 1847 Act. 

The Act is UK legislation which could be amended in Parliament by a British government – it has nothing at all to do with EU law – the British government could amend the law independently if they wished.  Instead they hide behind the EU; informing UK campaigners that things cannot be changed because of EU law.  Was the UK part of the EU in 1847 ? – dont think so !    

We have always felt this is wrong and the UK could act independently by amending the 1847 Act if it really wanted to take real action against live animal export from the UK.

Remember the Battle of Waterloo ?

Remember, just as a basic guide to the age of this legislation that the UK government STILL works to; the famous Battle of Waterloo – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo  took place in June 1815. 

Some 32 years after the Battle, the UK passed legislation for the 1847 Act – and it is still used today – 2015 !!   – have we not moved on into Century 21 now and should the law regarding rules in UK ports not reflect this ? – or is the actual 21^st Century reality that the British government does not want to amend the law in favour of UK live animals; but instead try to mislead the British public into believing that we cannot stop the trade in live animals because of ‘Europe’.

So how does the 1847 Act affect UK port regulations ?

A UK law that is over 160 years old, the ‘Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847’, means that public ports across Britain have no say in whether they wish to accept the trade in live animal exports. 

In other words; they ARE forced to take the trade in live animals by law, EVEN IF the port and its management were completely opposed to being involved.

Here is a link to the antiquated Act still being used today – http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/10-11/27

We know from many, many years of campaigning experience that many UK Port Authorities (probably all) would rather not allow shipments of live animals from ‘their’ port. But as long as this outdated legislation remains on the books, their hands are tied.  They are legally obliged to allow the trade to continue; despite their objections.

By the term ‘outdated legislation’, we mean that the Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act became law in 1847; and is still being used as the reason for ports to take the trade in live animals today – 2015 !!

The 1847 Act is an ‘SI’ law – this stands for ‘Statutory Instrument’.  An SI is an act of UK law, made by a UK Parliament, which can be changed by a UK Parliament.  It is NOT EU legislation.

The Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act (1847) states that all ports must allow the free trade of ‘goods’, including farm animals. So, by law, British public ports must allow lorries full of animals to pass through, even if the port authority doesn’t agree with the trade. It’s about time this law was updated so that ports can legally refuse consignments of live, SENTIENT (under EU law), animals without fear of legal repercussions.

The amendments we’re calling for are not unreasonable. And if the UK does get challenged by the EU the UK Government should do the right thing and stand up for the animals facing export. The Government should take the case to the European Courts if necessary.  But we do not feel that this would even happen in the first place.

Below is reference to the Compassion In World Farming (CIWF) issue of the 1847 Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act. 

http://action.ciwf.org.uk/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=119&ea.campaign.id=21798&ea.tracking.id=05bb9ddb

As the article states, “the Government Department that oversees live exports, don’t seem to understand what we are calling for. They believe that amending the 1847 Act would be a ban on live exports – and illegal under EU law”.

It is not a case of banning the live animal export trade; but simply giving all ports the OPTION of what trades they allow to pass through their port(s).

This legislation is a 1847 Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act is a Statutory Instrument (SI), is the principal form in which delegated legislationis made in Great Britain. They are governed by the SI Act of 1946.

An SI is an act of UK law, made by a UK parliament, which can be changed by a UK Parliament.  It is not EU legislation which an antiquated British government still loves to hide behind.

So the outcome of what we are calling for is for the UK government to amend the 1847 Act; give ports the choice to refuse live animals exports; and thus have a legal impact on the trade in live animals to Europe.

This is just one of many animal welfare issues which we hope will see David Cameron and his cronies thrown out of government in the May 2015 UK General Election !!

Did someone mention the 1847 Act ??

ME ! – Dont Bleat Mr. Cameron; Act to change 1847 !!

Filed under: CAMPAIGNS - Global Animal Welfare Issues, GENERAL NEWS - International / National / Regional, PHOTOGRAPHS - **WARNING** (Animal Suffering), The "Serbian Animals Voice (SAV) ALLIANCE |